IMPACT! Wrestling Review - May 20, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Rohit Raju def. Jake Something

When I interviewed Rohit Raju a few months ago, he told me Jake was someone he was looking forward to facing at some point because of their history on the independent scene. They had a solid match here, and while I'm happy Raju is back to doing somewhat notable following his entertaining run as X-Division Champion, Jake losing far more than he wins is bizarre to me. It's almost like his contract is coming up and IMPACT doesn't plan on pushing him on the way out. Sure, he attacked Shera afterward, but whether he'll win the feud is another story.

Tenille Dashwood def. Impact Knockouts Champion Kiera Hogan

Although Dashwood and Hogan are both heels, Dashwood set her sights on the tag titles following her and Taylor Wilde's win over Kimber Lee and Susan at Under Siege, so that's why this match was made. Both of them are talented, so it was well-wrestled and I was glad they were given an ample amount of time. Dashwood winning likely sets her and Wilde up for a title shot soon. What felt like the entire Knockouts locker room piled out post-match to brawl with each other, so maybe a 10-woman tag team matchup is on the horizon.

Petey Williams def. VSK

In addition to his appearances on AEW Dark, VSK previously appeared for IMPACT a few weeks ago when he lost to El Phantasmo. He's a quality enhancement guy, so I'm all for IMPACT bringing him to help spotlight other guys. As for Williams, as seen at Under Siege, he hasn't lost a step whatsoever. It's so cool to see him being used in a regular role again. This was a fun outing and I'd love to see him built up for a program with fellow Canadian Josh Alexander over the Impact X-Division Championship.

Sami Callihan Saved Moose From AEW World Champion and Impact World Champion Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers

Man, Moose is such a star. I really hope his contract isn't actually expiring next month and he sticks around because he needs to win that Impact World Championship at some point. Unfortunately, I don't think it's happening at Against All Odds. He was cutting a quality promo when he was interrupted by Omega and Don Callis. They completely roasted Moose by bringing up how he has yet to win a wrestling title, and no, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship doesn't count. This successfully got me hyped for their upcoming encounter and Callihan making the save for Moose should set them up to face The Good Brothers on an upcoming episode. I assume Eddie Edwards' absence wasn't mentioned because he'll be out of action for a while due to reportedly dealing with appendicitis.

Rachael Ellering def. Jordynne Grace

Grace requested management for this match out of frustration for losing the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship at Under Siege. I got the sense that Grace was turning heel following her recent losses and it looks like they're indeed headed in that direction. They had a damn good match here and Ellering barely pulling out the win leave the door open for more matches. On a side note, am I the only one who finds Ellering's overly positive attitude annoying? I don't think that's supposed to be the point, either.

Impact World Tag Team Champions FinJuice def. Ace Austin and Madman Fulton; Violent By Design (Rhino and Joe Doering) def. FinJuice to Win the Impact World Tag Team Championship

Not only was this slotted as the main event, they were given a ton of time and rightfully so. The early goings were fairly basic, but once they picked up the pace, this turned into a very entertaining main event. FinJuice have been excellent in IMPACT while the duo of Austin and Fulton have plenty of potential. I was surprised to see Fulton take the losing fall, but that might be because IMPACT is more keen on protecting Austin. Additionally, I totally forgot about Rhino having the Call Your Shot trophy, so Violent By Design coming out at the end to take the titles was a sweet swerve.

Overall Show

IMPACT's streak of strong shows continues. I thoroughly enjoyed Under Siege on Saturday and I'm glad they kept the momentum rolling as we look ahead to Against All Odds next month. There was plenty of terrific action on this show and the one major talking segment delivered. The title change was a great way to cap off the evening as I genuinely didn't see it coming. We also got word that NJPW's Satoshi Kojima will be debuting on next week's show. Personally, I'm not familiar with his work, but I expect him to be another welcome addition to the roster much like FinJuice and El Phantasmo have been. Speaking of crossovers, are we not getting any more AEW stars in IMPACT other than Omega?